Confetti Machete
by iamsheena
Summary: In the Season 4 opener, Veronica is approached by Jake Kane who wants to be sure that she won't spill The Castle's secrets and tries to make a deal; and her relationship with Piz is changing drastically. Nearing the end of her first year at Hearst.
1. It Never Rains in SoCal

The sun shone brightly through the bedroom window, waking Veronica up and momentarily blinding her. Cringing away, she stretched her naked body beneath the covers to try and jolt herself awake. She turned over, expecting to see the man that she had spent the previous night with, but saw no one. Confused, Veronica slipped out of the bed and wrapped one of the bed sheets around herself.

She peered into the bedroom's bathroom and was not surprised when she saw no one. Before leaving the bedroom, Veronica slipped on a pair of sweats and a tank top. She walked down the off-white hallway. Each wall was covered with small paintings of Californian landscapes: beaches, sunsets, the ocean, poolside lounge chairs, warmth. She passed the linen closet with the white wooden sliding door and then reached the stairway.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, there was still no one to be found. The living room was empty along with the study. The kitchen was empty save for the dirty dishes from the night before and every additional room that Veronica peered into was empty. She wondered whether he had gone outside. He must have.

She went out the back door that led straight to the beach and saw someone standing ankle deep in the ocean while the waves rolled in. Veronica walked to him with a smile on her face and stopped when she was three feet away.

"Hey."

He turned around with a smile on his own face and opened his arms for her to hug him.

Veronica shook her head, "I'm not coming in there Logan."

"Oh?" He walked toward her, his arms still opened, and hugged her, picking her up off of the ground. "I think you'll change your mind," he laughed. Holding her like a damsel in distress, he walked back into the ocean.

"Change my mind? This feels a little out of my control," she replied, worried.

"And that must be killing you inside," Logan said with a kiss to her forehead.

Veronica wrapped her arms around his neck, "please don't drop me."

"Hm. It's just water," he teased.

"Ha," Veronica scoffed. "It's _cold_ water."

"It's not that cold," Logan replied still smiling.

"I beg to differ. Don't drop me ... or I'll-"

"You'll what? Get wet?"

"And angry. Remember: When Veronica is unhappy, everybody is unhappy."

Logan smiled and let go of her for a single moment before catching Veronica again and laughing.

Veronica shot him a dagger-filled look. "You're extremely lucky that you were only joking. You have no idea what I'm capable of. I will ... do something very harmful to you when we're on dry land."

Logan had ceased to listen though. His gaze and attention was focused on the beach. He walked out of the water and put Veronica down on the shore. It was then that she saw what Logan had.

"Duncan?" She looked back at Logan who had already begun walking towards his old friend. Veronica began running, passing Logan until she reached Duncan. "Duncan, what are you doing here? Where's Lilly? You can't be here yet."

"V, I'm here. Are you all right?"

Veronica looked behind Duncan to see a beautiful blonde walking toward the three. "Lilly? How-? I don't understand."

"You look sick, Veronica."

"But you're dead. Lilly. This isn't real," Veronica began to cry. "This can't be real."

"Veronica, are you alright?"

Veronica shook her head and opened her eyes to see Piz looking down upon her.

"Veronica?"

She smiled, "hi."

Piz didn't smile. He looked worried. "Are you okay?"

"Not so much now that I'm awake," Veronica joked.

"You were crying."

"What?" Veronica brought her fingers to her face to feel drying tears on her cheeks. "Oh."

"Were you dreaming about something?"

_Logan. Duncan._"Lilly. M-my friend who was murdered. It just felt really real. And not. It was a weird dream."

"Oh," Piz paused as if unsure of what to say. "It's just-"

"What?" Veronica pressed, concerned at Piz's more-awkward-than-normal state.

He shook his head and smiled, "are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Embarrassed. But fine," she laughed.

Piz pulled her into a hug.

_I'm fine, yes, but confused. A dream is just a dream, right? Then why do I feel like I am cheating?_

Veronica grabbed her things and kissed Piz goodbye before rushing off to her class, which she was already late for. She wished that there was a better story that would explain why both she and Piz had been up late, therefore both sleeping through the alarm clock, but in all truth, they had agreed to study for their finals together and it had taken excruciatingly long. Instead of driving home, Veronica decided to sleep over. Simple and innocent.

It wasn't something that she was used to. With Logan she had always hated to leave in the mornings and their nights together were far from innocent. Veronica had Logan on her mind constantly lately in both her conscious and unconscious states of existence. As much as she hated to admit it to herself, Piz couldn't measure up to the man who had once described their love as epic – a claim that she whole-heartedly agreed with. But she and Logan couldn't be together. They just didn't work together, and a relationship shouldn't be as difficult as theirs always seemed to be.

"_No one writes songs about the ones that come easy."_

Veronica smiled to herself as she walked into her class and took a seat in the back with the slackers as she didn't want to be the point of attention for wandering eyes or an annoyingly alert prof.

The night that Logan had drunkenly told Veronica about what he thought of their relationship definitely caught her off-guard, but she truly did agree. They're story was like a dream or a movie – so unreal, yet it was. That fact couldn't be denied. And neither could their love.

Parker and Logan had broken up after he had beaten up Piz over the sex tape of the latter with Veronica. Of course, it turned out that the sex tape was due to The Castle, Hearst's secret organization, and not Piz.

Veronica's new-found extra-curricular activity of dreaming day and night about Logan had followed shortly after an incident between Logan and Gorya Sorokin in Hearst's food court. Gorya had insulted Veronica who had let the comment slide because of his 'connections'. Logan, however, was not so lenient and, despite Veronica's warning, got into a one-sided fight with Gorya who then went on to promise that Logan would regret his actions.

Regardless of her worry for Logan, Veronica could still be flattered – and perhaps swooned – by the defending of her honour. Right? When he smiled at her before walking away, Veronica felt truly like a girl. She could feel the love for him swell in her heart and didn't care if it was cliché.

Then he apologized to Piz for the smack down that he had laid on him earlier that week, which made her want him more. The way her mind had been jumbled and reorganized caused Veronica to rethink her priorities and regardless of how many times she reordered the list, Logan always seemed to be number one.

The weeks following that incident had been bizarre at best.

After Veronica had placed her vote for her dad as sheriff, she was walking back to her car in the rain when someone had called her name. She turned to the voice's owner and found Clarence Weidman.

"Come with me, Veronica," Clarence said in his deep monotone.

"If you're here, who's going to open Jake Kane's door?"

"Mr. Kane would like to speak with you," Clarence replied, ignoring Veronica's quip.

"Um, I don't think so. I have places to go. People to see. So you can just-"

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way. One involves less bodily harm."

"Are you threatening me?"

Clarence didn't reply, but only looked down on Veronica in eerie silence.

Veronica rolled her eyes and gave in, "fine." Clarence began walking toward a parked limo and Veronica followed, unable to push the bad feelings away. Clarence held the door open for her and she climbed in to be met with Jake Kane. Weidman followed.

"Ah, Veronica. How are you?"

"Just perfect. Being threatened and kidnapped were both on my agenda for this afternoon. I wasn't too sure how I could make it happen, but then dear Clarence here showed up and made all my dreams come true."

"No one's kidnapping you, Veronica," Jake Kane replied with a malicious smile.

"And the threatening part?"

Jake shrugged, "that's open to debate. I want to talk to you, Veronica, about the information you have on The Castle."

"I'm not going to tell anyone ... unless you piss me off. You're walking a thin line Mr. Kane."

"I'm the one in charge here, not you. Now listen: that information is very valuable. There's already word that someone in the Hearst Free Press has gotten her hands on a lengthy list of Castle members. I wonder how that happened?"

"I guess she's just lucky," Veronica said with a smile. When she was met with two hard stares, she sighed and continued. "It's not a big deal Mr. Kane. The Castle's secrets are safe with me."

"See, I don't know how well I can trust your word, Veronica. Over the years, you have just become less and less trustworthy. So now I am going to propose a deal."

"The deal has already been made, Jake. There's nothing more to say."

Jake smiled, "oh Veronica, ye have little faith. Here's the deal: I know that you know where Duncan is. You helped him to escape and everyone knows it. You tell me where my son is, and..."

There was a click and Veronica turned to Clarence Weidman to see him holding a revolver.

"...you won't have to deal with us any longer. You refuse, and I will have to leave you here with my dear friend."

"Mr. Kane, I have no idea where Duncan is. I _literally_ swear on my life."

"Veronica, come on now. Who do you think you are dealing with?"

"I-I did help Duncan to escape with baby Lilly, but-"

"Lilly?"

"Yes. Duncan renamed his baby, Lilly."

Jake seemed momentarily touched but continued as if nothing had occurred. "You're saying you helped him flee the country, but you don't know where he is? How is that possible Veronica?"

"He wouldn't tell me where he was going. I mean, he couldn't tell me. He knew it would do me no good. I helped set things up, helped to get the feds on the wrong track. He said that after Mexico, he would get on a plane and fall off of the radar. Duncan did everything else – he made the fake passports and created a whole new identity of his own, not letting me in on the secrets even a little bit. I helped him to Mexico and that's it. That's all I know."

"You couldn't have done this all alone, who else was involved?"

"A friend of Duncan's, I think. I don't know who. Duncan set it all up, like I said. He did everything else. Well ... unless you count Sheriff Lamb but I'm certain that he had no idea that he was helping the boy that he was trying to catch."

"Why should I believe you, Veronica?"

"Because belief and forgiveness is the Christian thing to do?" Veronica offered.

"It's too bad I'm not much of a Christian," Jake sighed. "I don't believe you Miss Mars, but I have things to do today-"

"Other girls to try and intimidate?"

"Just know that I _will_ be watching you, Veronica. One slip up, and Clarence will have to take care of you," Jake continued, completely ignoring Veronica.

Clarence opened the limo door and climbed out, holding it open for Veronica, who then scrambled quickly out, heart pounding. "I'll be seeing you, Mars."

"Only at night," Veronica replied with a smile and walked off quickly to her silver Saturn Hybrid. On the surface, she remained calm and collected as she drove listening to _Cupid's Chokehold_on the radio, but underneath, her heart continued to beat faster than any human's should. She shouldn't have been feeling so nervous, but it was something that just couldn't be helped. Clarence Weidman was a very intimidating man after all.

The weeks leading up to present day had involved numerous 'surprise' encounters with Clarence Weidman as well as Jake Kane. Veronica's guess was that those run-ins weren't by accident. They kept their promise about keeping their eyes on Veronica and it wasn't a pleasant piece of knowledge to have.

That was basically the "bizarre" that the past weeks had entailed. It was at least in competition for the title of 'most bizarre'.

A few days ago, Veronica had a run-in with Dick Casablancas that was both awkward and uncomfortable, mostly for the former.

Dick was visibly coming apart at the seams. He was definitely crossing into dangerous territory with the amount of alcohol that he was consuming. It was rare to see Dick's hand free of a bottle, can, or flask. It was probably safe to assume that this had to do with the return of Big Dick.

Veronica was in her car after her last class on Friday, about to leave for home to get ready for the night that Piz had made her promise to partake in. She was about to pull out when there was a tap at her window. It was Dick. She rolled down the window, "what, Dick?"

"Are you busy? Or, like, in a rush?"

Veronica sighed. She really didn't want to have any sort of conversation with Dick, but she had a lot of time before her and Piz's date. "No, why?"

"Can we talk? Walk and talk?" Dick said in what seemed to have a hint of a slur.

"O-kay, but lose the drink, Dick." Veronica took off her seat belt and opened the door, getting out while Dick contemplated her request. "I'm not going to talk with you if you're drinking."

Dick then chugged the contents of the flask and handed it to Veronica. She rolled her eyes and through it under her car seat before slamming the door.

The two started walking – well, Veronica walked while Dick seemed to stumble along – in an uncomfortable silence until Veronica decided that she didn't like it. "What did you want to talk about, Dick?"

"Uh," Dick pointed to a bench under a tree and started walking with Veronica following.

"You want to talk about trees? Sorry, Dick, I can't say I know too much on the subject. Benches on the other hand..." Veronica said sarcastically.

Dick slumped down on the bench in reply and laid his head back; Veronica sat politely next to him, waiting for what he would say. He was very different – not the quick-to-insult guy that he usually was. The change made Veronica alert, so as to not be caught off-guard by whatever he wanted to talk to her about.

Dick groaned and brought his head back to focus on Veronica, "hey Veronica."

After a moment of unsure silence, Veronica replied, "hey Dick."

"Veronica," he slurred as his last drink seemed to be setting in. "I wan'ed to say sorry."

She was confused. Other than being a jackass to she and everyone else for the entire time that she had known him, she couldn't really think of anything that he needed apologize for. "Sorry for what, Dick? You haven't done anything."

"Yeah. It's my fault that Beav-" he paused and looked down, ashamed. "It's my fault that Cassidy brought you on the roof. What he did to you... And killed all those people. It's all me."

Veronica shook her head, "Dick, you couldn't have known that Cassidy could have the strength to kill so many people. It wasn't your fault. Woody-"

"How could I have not known that pervert was- I was always a horrible brother. I should have been the one who he was pointing the gun at. Me and my dad always tormented him. What that sicko did was only a drop in the waterfall of a shit life that Cassidy had. Everything he did was because of me."

"You just said that it was you and your dad. You would never have done any of that if he hadn't started it. It's his fault, Dick, not yours."

Dick smiled sardonically, "no." He had tears in his eyes and was definitely falling apart.

Veronica felt herself getting emotional. She didn't realize how much she cared for Dick as a friend. He always seemed to be so together in his messed up way. He wasn't someone that she often found herself considering a friend, but she could do worse. Seeing him so torn up and weak was a blow to the heart. "Dick, listen to me. Cassidy was unstable... mentally. You could not have changed his decision to murder all of those people. And you couldn't have known that he would have the will to rape me. I don't hold you accountable for anything. I swear."

Dick had his head in his hands and there was silence for a few minutes. When he looked at her again, his eyes were red, showing that he had been crying. When he spoke, his voice sounded dry and it was quiet, "he raped you?"

Veronica stuttered, unsure of what to say at first. "Sorry," she finally whispered. "I thought you knew. I thought Logan told you."

"When?" Dick asked, his voice back to normal volume. He seemed to only need confirmation of what he already knew.

Veronica wanted to lie. If she told him that it was at Shelly Pomroy's end of year party, he would only have something more to blame himself for. But where else could it have happened where Veronica would remain silent? "It was at... Shelly Pomroy's party." Dick sighed and let his head fall into his hands again. "But Dick, that wasn't your fault either. It was Cassidy's choice-"

"Cassidy never had a choice, Veronica!" Dick shouted suddenly, causing Veronica to jump and passersby to stare. "I called the shots. I made him do what he did. I should be the one who jumped off the roof."

Veronica shook her head, "Dick, no. Don't say that."

"Did you try to stop him from jumping?"

Veronica shook her head slowly. "I thought he had just killed my dad. I couldn't- Logan did. He tried."

"Not very hard though," he whispered bitterly.

"I'm sorry Dick."

"Don't- don't you apologize, Veronica. I don't want to- I just-" Dick sighed. "I want my flask back." He stood up and began walking in a somewhat crooked line back to Veronica's car. He was stopped in his tracks when he flung his head back mid-step and lost his balance, falling sideways onto the soft grass where he remained, eyes closed.

Veronica walked up to Dick's body and looked down at him as people stared at the man who seemed to have collapsed, "Dick?"

"Hm?" He replied weakly.

"People are staring."

"Mm."

Veronica sat next to Dick on the grass and spoke quietly, "you need to get up. I'm going to take you back to the hotel."

"No thanks, Mars. I'll just hang out here."

Veronica stood, "come on."

Dick held his arms up for Veronica to pull him up with. She sighed and rolled her eyes but grabbed hold of both his hands and pulled. He did absolutely nothing, remaining as dead weight. "Dick, you have to do at least half of the work."

"I'm a spoiled rich brat, I don't have to do any work, remember?" He replied with his eyes still closed.

"You won't get your flask back at this rate. I'm leaving," Veronica said, and she walked back to her Saturn.

Again, she was in her car and the ignition was turned on. She waited a few moments before starting to pull away. She hit the brakes hard when a loud bang came from behind the vehicle. Veronica put it in to park after looking to see Dick stumbling to her driver's window. "Give me my flask. Please."

"Get in the car, Dick. I'm taking you home."

Dick opened his mouth to protest but seemed to think better of it and wobbled over to the passenger side, falling inside the car. As soon as she got in, Dick reclined the chair and passed out. She was stuck buckling his seat belt. People seemed to have nothing to do that day and were therefore watching the spectacle intently as they walked by. It was like high school again. Veronica knew what they were probably thinking, seeing her hanging out with Dick Casablancas, buckling his seat belt. Perhaps getting a little cozy? The possibilities that entered people's minds were endless and Veronica didn't think twice about it before pulling out and driving to the Neptune Grand.

She found a spot on the street in front of the hotel and parked while Dick snored obnoxiously. The radio quietly played Justin Timberlake as Veronica pulled out her cell phone and dialled Logan's number. She hadn't seen him alone since the beating that he gave Gorya Sorokin. After having the numerous dreams – some very steamy – Veronica was unsure as to whether or not she could face Logan. But Dick seemed to be pulling a Sleeping 'Beauty' and her tiny stature would not be able to support his weight. Unfortunately, Logan didn't pick up. Trying several times more, she eventually gave up and tried to wake Dick up. She turned on the radio and blasted Britney Spears' _Piece of Me_. Dick jumped awake to a smiling Veronica.

Dick smiled lopsided, "what up Ronnie?"

"You're home!" Veronica replied in mock excitement.

Dick stretched, "oh." After a moment of staring from Veronica, he unbuckled his seat belt with some difficulty and opened the door. He short of fell from the vehicle while Veronica slipped his flask into her bag and got out of the car herself. Veronica walked with a mis-stepping Dick to the hotel. She was going to make sure that he got into his room and didn't take a detour to the bar.

They reached Dick and Logan's room and Veronica used the former's key card to unlock the door as his own hand was ridiculously unsteady. She opened it and walked in to see a destroyed room.

"Uh, Dick?" Veronica said to the guy still standing in the hall. Dick walked into the room with a "whoa."

"Crazy late afternoon party? Pre-Pre-gaming?"

"Nah. The place was clean when I left. I make sure of that. Cleanliness is next to Godliness, right?"

"Well Logan's favourite number _is_ six-six-six." Veronica walked over a pile of dead flowers and glass that could only have been a vase full of dead flowers at one point. The rest of the suite could be seen in all its destroyed glory; everything that had been on a table or shelf was now on the floor, most of which was broken. The couch and its pillows were shredded – stuffing littered the floor.

Dick hobbled over to his bedroom, which had its doors closed. "It's all good in here." Veronica followed and peaked in to see the spotless room – something that she would never peg Dick for. Maids were probably the best bet.

Veronica then walked to the other side of the suite to Logan's room, which had its doors closed as well. She opened the door slowly. This room had nothing on Dick's. It was just as full of destruction as the rest of the suite save for Dick's room and Veronica could barely open the door fully with all the junk in front of it. "Logan?"

She squeezed through the opening, trying to see if he was in there. Water from the bath tub tap could be heard flowing. Veronica walked to the bathroom door and knocked. "Logan?" She called again. Dick had followed her and collapsed on Logan's bed to wait for him. When there was no answer, Veronica tried the door, which was unlocked. She slowly opened it to see a floor with spots of red liquid, assumingly blood, and a half naked bloody and bruised Logan Echolls slumped in the bath tub, eyes closed.


	2. I Got Trouble

Veronica's heart pounded at the sight of the battered and bruised man. "Oh my God, Logan!" She ran over to the tub, stepping in the blood and over his ripped sweater and bloody jeans, and knelt next to it. He was in only his boxers as the tap ran warm water around his body. "Logan," Veronica said again, panic starting to take over. Still, there was no reply, "Dick!" she called as she started to become hysterical. "Dick, get in here!" With the last shout there was a grunt from the man in the tub. "Logan?!"

Logan opened his eyes and shifted. "What are you doing here?" he groaned.

"What am I doing here?" Veronica repeated disbelievingly. "Logan, what happened?"

"Dude!" Dick exclaimed once he finally sauntered into the bathroom. He ran and knelt next to Veronica, "what's going on?"

Logan sat up shakily, "oh, this? My sweater and I had a falling out. He's a little torn up, but I got the worst of it," he joked.

"Logan-"

"Veronica," he said sternly. He leaned forward, cupping his hands and letting the water accumulate in his hands before splashing the contents on his face. "Did you need something? Because I'm a little busy."

"Logan, you need to go to the hospital. You could have a concussion or broken bones, fractures-"

"Yeah man, you could be seriously messed- You _look_ seriously messed."

"If you saw the other guy-"

"Logan-" she repeated.

"Veronica," Logan mocked at the repetition.

Veronica sighed and looked down. Logan stood up slowly, obviously in pain, and turned off the taps. "Don't you have something better to do? _Stosh_, perhaps?"

Veronica followed Logan and stood, as did Dick. She remained speechless from his arrogance, although it was probably a good sign. "Fine." She gave one last look to Logan and left. Her footsteps left quarter prints of blood on the suite's carpet, but she ceased to notice.

She got into her car feeling almost weak, both with worry and school girl nerves, and drove off to continue living her life as planned.

The most recent situation definitely stuck with Veronica and made her dreams more vivid than ever before. Now Logan was on her mind because of the last real image she had seen of him, battered and bruised. At first, she didn't have a clue as to what could have happened but once she relieved herself of the situation and could think clearly, the only possibility that she could think of was Gorya Sorokin's family. It _had_ to be somebody in his family. Veronica saw his side of the fight with Logan and there was no way that Gorya was capable of something so big. There were probably multiple people. She planned to figure it out whether Logan was going to cooperate or not. She hadn't received a lot of cases lately, so the focus could primarily remain on the guy who was, quite literally, the man of her dreams.

Veronica decided to keep Piz in the dark on the subject. If he asked her directly whether she were on a case to take down the individuals who beat up her ex-boyfriend, she wouldn't deny it, she just wasn't going to be the one to bring it up. With that, she also kept it from Wallace as he and Piz had crossed over into BFF territory some time ago, and Wallace would surely share. Veronica told Mac and Parker, although the latter was sort of just in the area and had overheard the two talking. They both agreed to keep their mouths shut, though Parker did so only after some coercing from Mac.

Veronica had been a half hour late to her first class on Monday, after leaving Piz and Wallace's room late, allowing her only twenty minutes of quality learning time in English. She would not have been in this class if it weren't for the fact that the FBI needed her to take it to have a chance at qualifying for a career in said bureau. She may have spoken the language, but that's all it really was to her; essays, poetry, short stories were all evil tactics created by the schooling system to get her to read by force. Not that she didn't enjoy reading the occasional great story, but the fun was always sucked out of it when it wasn't something chosen by herself, and when it was some form of poetry or Shakespeare.

Her next class was Criminology – a year round course. Ever since Hank Landry had been sent to prison for the murder of Mindy O'Dell, and his TA Timothy Foyle had followed closely behind for the murder of Cyrus O'Dell, the class' interest factor went downhill. The days before horror were filled with interactive learning and interesting information. The prof who took Landry's place was, as Logan would've put it, a fossil. His monotone was reminiscent of Neptune High's Mrs. Murphy although, if possible, worse. Veronica had to constantly strain to hear what he was saying, he didn't use any sort of visuals (probably because he couldn't figure out the technology), and she, along with most other students, had to struggle to stay awake so that they could take down the information that he spewed out.

When her class was finished, Veronica groggily packed up her belongings and shuffled with the other students out of the dungeon. She only had the two classes Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Tuesday and Thursday, she had Violence in Early Adolescence, Chemistry, and Intro to Theology. She thought it was a fairly easy semester. She was trying to make it a point of all her years at college to only take what she needed. Easy Street, that's where she wanted to be.

Veronica wandered into the Hearst food court for lunch and sat at one of the small round tables alone. She would be joined by Mac and Max soon enough as the classes they had ended at the same time as Veronica's. In the mean time she slowly ate her lunch, picking at random pieces of her tasteless salad. It had looked better than it tasted. While doing so, she zoned out and took part in what had become her favourite past time: day dreaming of Logan. Her day dreams were full of memories and always left her feeling nostalgic. The first time she kissed Logan, back when things were simpler and their relationship was secret. They had a good thing going, but then his father had to go and ruin it. She wondered if things would be different if they had remained a secret and told Duncan themselves. Something like the butterfly effect.

"Veronica?"

Veronica looked up from her salad, "hm?" Logan was standing there with a perplexed look. "Hey," she said when she realized who had said her name and tried to hide the I-was-just-thinking-of-you embarrassment that she felt was plastered on her face.

"Are you okay?"

Veronica looked at him incredulously, "shouldn't I be asking you that?"

Logan shrugged, "I said your name like five times. Dreaming about your lover?"

Veronica looked back to her salad to hide her sheepish smile, "something like that."

"Hey," came a voice from behind Veronica. Mac. "Hi Logan."

Logan nodded. Veronica smiled, relieved. "Hey Mac."

Mac looked at her, questioning Logan's presence with her eyes, and sat down with Max by her side. Veronica shrugged.

Noticing the exchange of body language, Logan spoke, "Veronica, I just want to say that what happened- it's none of your business, okay?"

Veronica replied slowly, "of course it isn't. How could you think that I would figure anything otherwise?"

"Yeah, well," he said, obviously not convinced by her façade. "I just thought I should say the words. Don't go all Sherlock Holmes on the situation, alright? Keep your tiny self away from the problem. Understand?"

Veronica nodded, "completely."

"Okay." Logan looked at her one more time as if to warn her again but still looked unconvinced before he walked away.

Mac smiled at Veronica who smiled back. Max looked between the two of them and sighed, "I guess I'm not going to be let in on the telepathic conversation you two are having?"

Mac shook her head, "of course not. Only the very special members of the Justice League are allowed to know."

Veronica groaned, "I'm not too sure if I want our clique to be something so- what's the word? Geeky."

"But you're the only one suited for the position of Wonder Woman. Who else can man the invisible plane?"

"Or the Lasso of Truth!" Veronica exclaimed in mock excitement. "Hm, the side is suddenly looking brighter."

Mac smiled, "I'm going to get some lunch!" She left the table with Max following her and continuing the conversation, "if Veronica's Wonder Woman, who are you?" As they left, Piz took a chair next to Veronica.

"Hey," he said, kissing her on her right cheek.

Veronioca smiled, feeling slightly uncomfortable and conflicted, "hey."

"Did you make it to English in time for some old fashioned learning?"

"Mm," Veronica smiled.

Piz smiled, "good. So I was thinking, there's this band that I'm interviewing on my show tonight, The Bell Jar, and then they have a concert that I want to go to. You want to come with?"

Veronica really wanted to spend the night looking for incriminating evidence on the guys who beat up Logan, so could only lie. "Actually, my dad wanted some help on a case he's working tonight. I... already promised that I'd help."

Yes, Keith Mars was back to being a Private Investigator. The people of Neptune were incoherent mental cases who couldn't tell the difference between the right choice and the wrong choice if they stood up and pointed to themselves, according to Veronica. Vinnie had won in a landslide of votes because of Veronica's dad tampering with evidence. Of course, they failed to notice that he was clearly a family man and would take great care of their families. This was a town full of nutcases. Veronica had spent days after the election fuming over the results, until Keith forced her to move on.

Piz looked disappointed. "Oh. Well that's alright. Can we hang this afternoon?"

Veronica shook her head, "I have a shift in the library."

"Do you want to do something tomorrow night?"

"I'll have to see how the case goes tonight."

"Well you're helping your dad, right? He'll understand if you already have plans," he hinted.

Veronica smiled, knowing that she couldn't argue with that logic unless she wanted to hurt Piz – something that was definitely not on her to-do list, not if she wanted to stay clear of Wallace's wrath. "Yeah, okay. What do you want to do?"

"We could go for a good old dinner and movie. Or just hang out? It's your choice."

_If it were my choice, I'd be getting vengeance on whoever hurt Logan and not being guilted to ... hang with my boyfriend. Something has to be wrong in this head._ "I'll think about it and let you know."

Piz nodded with a smile. "I have to get to my next class, so I'll see you later," and he kissed Veronica who convincingly kissed back.

During their short conversation, Mac and Max had made their way back to the table, "so what's the haps?"

"The haps?" Veronica repeated with a chuckle.

Mac nodded with a faux seriousness.

Veronica shook her head and smiled. "Not a whole lot. I have to go – there's a case. So I'll talk to you later Mac, alright?" Veronica said, strongly indicating that she _needed_ to talk to Mac. Veronica hadn't had anyone to do that girl talk thing with since Lilly died. Her best friend for the past couple of years was Wallace and he definitely wasn't going to listen to her talk about boy trouble. Well, that wasn't entirely true. He'd listen, he just wouldn't enjoy it. And talking to Wallace about anything Piz-related probably was not a good idea. Mac was the only person she could trust with any kind of information related to her Logan and Piz conundrum. She had become a real girl. Veronica was unsure of whether she liked this or not.

Mac nodded in understanding and Veronica walked away to start her investigation about Logan's beating.

Veronica drove home to investigate in comfort. She would start by finding out as much information as possible on Gorya Sorokin and the rest of his family, specifically his Uncle Lev and father about whom he spoke in The Castle video. The freshman facebook was not only a great way to get to know your fellow classmates, but also a fantastic tool to use when you're investigating a family that screams _Godfather_. However, all that could really be learned from the information within the freshman facebook was that there were two other people with the last name Sorokin: Stepan and Tatiana. The chances of them being related was great – how popular could the name Sorokin be?

She decided to go online and check out the Facebook website. It had become popular with most all students and apparently had some privacy problems, which was perfect for someone looking for dirt. Veronica never got into the whole MySpace thing and so never thought about creating a Facebook account. But there's a time in everyone's life where change must be faced, especially when you can't go any further without it. However, she decided that a pseudonym would be most useful to her as she didn't plan on staying permanently and didn't want people she barely knew talking to her like they were BFFs.

When she searched in "Gorya Sorokin", he popped up in the results easily, with a picture of himself at what Veronica assumed was a Pi Sig party judging by the background and the drunken state he appeared to be in. Classy. Below his name was a list of thirty plus people with the last name Sorokin, the majority of them residing in Neptune or the areas around it. They were all about Gorya's age and mostly males, which was strange. How big did a family have to be if there were a bunch of males who were basically the same age? Weird, but possible. It could have been a huge coincidence that they shared the name Sorokin and lived generally in the same area. Possibly.

Veronica browsed Gorya's page, seeing that his status read: **Gorya Sorokin** is going fishing this weekend with Uncle Lev, dad and Stepan.

"Fishing?" she spoke to herself. _As in sleeping with the fishes?_ Veronica smiled at her own thought and decided to look up more on this Stepan Sorokin character.

Stepan's page read that he was a freshman at Hearst College – information that Veronica already knew – and was a major in accounting so that one day he could work the finances of the family business. Either Veronica's mind had been altered profusely by her father-daughter nights of watching _The Godfather_ and the "family business" was a simple Russian style restaurant, or the family business was really something to do with a Russian mafia and the Sorokin boys didn't do much to hide this fact. Or both.

Maybe Veronica would pay a visit to dear Stepan and see what kind of information that she could scare out of him.

"Honey, I'm home," called Keith's voice from the main room of he and Veronica's apartment.

Veronica closed her laptop and walked into the living room, "how was your day?"

"Uneventful, yours?"

"Like father, like daughter. A very boring and delightfully short day."

Keith nodded and smiled, avoiding his daughter's eyes, "so do I get to spend a night with my daughter tonight? Where were you last night?"

"I was at Piz and Wallace's," she replied slowly in reaction to his shifty disposition. "I was studying for finals. I didn't want to drive home so I just slept there."

Keith nodded, "what should we have for dinner tonight?" He asked, walking past her with his briefcase into his room.

"Uh, I don't know. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Keith called from the other room, "why do you ask?"

Veronica didn't reply. If he wanted to share, he would. "We can order in pizza, unless you feel like cooking. I don't."

"Sure."

Until then, Veronica would hunt down Stepan and bombard him with questions. She walked towards her room but stopped when she got to her dad's bedroom door. Inside he was simply sitting on his bed, doing nothing. She raised her eyebrow, "okay. What's going on?"

"Nothing's going on. I'm just thinking."

"About anything in particular?"

Keith sighed and stood up, "yes actually. I received an e-mail today."

Veronica was definitely confused when he left it at that. "O...kay. Is this different from any other day?"

"Yes."

When he didn't continue, Veronica rolled her eyes. "Are you going to tell me _why_? Or do you want me to guess? Was it a picture of a pony? And you finally realized that I deserved one!"

"There's no question that you deserve a pony, but I told you that Santa said he wanted to give all the world's orphans ponies first."

Veronica looked at him, unimpressed, "what was in the e-mail?"

Finally he looked her in the eyes, "a video."

Then a wave of realization washed over Veronica and she was speechless. It wasn't just a video that her _father_ had seen, it was _the_ video. The one that everyone and their dog had seen. If she had ever felt humiliated, this was definitely the winning moment. She looked down, still trying to think of what she could say as her face turned red, burning. Who in their right mind would send that video to the father of the 'star'? "Who sent it to you?" She whispered, still looking at the floor that was becoming increasingly interesting.

"What I want to know is how this video is even in existence. Have you seen it?" Keith replied, his anger becoming apparent. "What part did Stosh play?"

"It wasn't him. He didn't know it was there. Wallace was-"

"_Wallace_?! He did this?"

"No! _No._ It was The Castle, Hearst's secret society. Wallace was supposed to be initiated as a member and that's why the camera was in their room. To catch Wallace doing something, I think. But they saw _this_ and started its circulation." Veronica understood the lack of eye contact now as she struggled to look anywhere but her dad. "Y-you didn't watch the whole thing, right?"

Keith shook his head, "of course not."

That didn't give Veronica as much relief as she thought it would.

"I wish you would've told me. Finding out from Vinnie is a kick to this handsome face." Of course it was Vinnie. "Are you okay though?"

Veronica nodded, "yes. Right as rain and all that. I need to go work on this case I have though, so I'll see you for dinner." She left to her room before Keith could say anything further and grabbed what she needed for normal work and spy-work before rushing out of the apartment.

She was completely shook up. Thinking about her father watching her on top of Piz, _naked_, made her cringe. Knowing that Vinnie had sent it to Keith enraged Veronica; it was worse knowing that she could do little more than try to verbally bruise him now that he was Neptune's Sheriff. She would have to find out who sent the video to Vinnie and make them pay. She knew that some of the deputies had seen it.

When Veronica was leaving the Sheriff's station one day shortly following the internet release of the video, she nearly walked into Leo.

"Watch where you're going, blondie," he had joked.

Veronica shrugged, "damn women drivers."

There was a short silence before Leo spoke again, now seeming uncomfortable, "I'm glad you're here. I wanna talk to you."

Veronica silently agreed and the two moved away from the door that led from the office into the hallway.

"This is a little, uh-" He cut off uneasily. Leo shifted before continuing, "you know I care about you Veronica," he had said.

She was confused until that moment when realization had washed over her, "oh God."

Leo began to explain, "I've got friends at Hearst-"

Veronica, who was very worried, cut him off, "you cannot tell my dad! Under any circumstance. I'm serious! It will kill him. A-and if it doesn't, then he'll track down the person responsible and will kill them." Her voice broke with the worry for her father and she stopped talking.

Leo shook his head after a brief moment, "I won't say anything. I promise."

Veronica then nodded without another word as her voice wouldn't be able to support any words and her breathing rate increased as she left the station close to tears.

Leo wouldn't have showed anyone even if Veronica said he could, which she never would. But it got around the Sheriff's department somehow. She would head down there after she spoke with Stepan.

Veronica parked off-campus because she didn't feel like searching for a parking space in the busy parking lots that the afternoon always seemed to bring. She didn't know if Stepan even had a room on campus but she wouldn't know until she looked. It would be so much easier if she didn't make enemies everywhere she went, then people would listen to her more often when she needed a question answered.

She was sure that Domonick Dasante would not be willing to help her after she gave up his name to Gorya, ending up with a broken limb, but there could be little harm in trying. Veronica had her taser.

She stood in front of Domonick's door and knocked, hoping that he would be there while hoping that he wouldn't. But he was. The door swung open to reveal a smiling Domonick, a smile that quickly turned to staring daggers. He said nothing.

"Uh, hey. I was hoping you could help me-"

"And why would I want to do that?"

Veronica smiled, "well I don't know, do you not remember the last time you refused to answer me?"

"Yeah, well, I'm busy soothing my broken arm, so..."

"It's just that," Veronica began, ignoring his arm. "I'm in Stepan Sorokin's calculus class and I missed our last class because I was sick. I called him and he said that he would give me notes but I guess his phone died before he could tell me where to meet him. So I was hoping that you would know where he lives... or hangs out?"

Domonick stared at her for a moment in an awkward silence. "Do you think I'm stupid, Mars?" He then slammed the door in her face.

"Why yes, I do," Veronica whispered to herself. She could do all in her power to make his life miserable again, but there were other ways to contact Stepan so she'd let it slide this time. Anyway, Veronica's shift at the library was about to start.

She decided to use her faux late fee trick to get him to show up. Hopefully he was the type who cared about heinous charges and would get down to the library before her shift ended at 4. Luckily it was only a matter of time before a blonde student showed up at the help desk, angry about a $50 late fee. He was slightly taller than Veronica with milky blue eyes and scattered-pimple complexion; she recognized him from his photo in the freshman facebook and the online version.

"I was e-mailed about some late fee on a book I didn't even take out. I need you to fix this _now_," Stepan had said in a volume not suited for the library, which caused a chorus of 'sh's from numerous hard working students.

"Stepan, right?"

He nodded quickly, "yes. I don't like people accusing me of something I didn't do. Make this fee disappear, got it?"

"You know, I think we can let it slide," Veronica replied carefully. This kid was high strung. "You're related to Gory Sorokin?"

Stepan nodded, "yeah. He's my cousin. Why?" His face suddenly brightened, "oh! You're that girl from the tape!" He began laughing.

Veronica chose to not beat him and spoke as calmly as she could muster, "yes, it's all very funny. You guys are going fishing this weekend?"

"How do you know that?" He replied, suddenly serious again.

"I'm friends with your cousin on Facebook and his status said he was going fishing with you, his Uncle Lev and his dad."

"Uh, yeah, so?"

"I was just wondering where? I've heard that the fish are really low on numbers around here. You wouldn't catch much," Veronica said, trying to make up convincing lies as she went along.

"Yeah well we're going north to my dad and uncle's lakeside cabin."

"Your Uncle Lev?"

"Uh, no," he relied in an 'are you stupid?' manner. "My dad is Lev. My uncle is Alek."

"Oh, okay."

"Wait, why did you want to know? What good is it to you?" He asked quickly, seeming very worried.

"My dad and I _love_ fishing and were upset about the decrease in fish populations because that means less for us. So I just wanted to know where good places to fish nowadays are. North. I'll let him know," Veronica said with a large fake smile.

Stepan seemed relieved but still unsure before he nodded and left.

So Alek and Lev Sorokin. Veronica was certain that she could find dirt on the Sorokin family now that she had the names of two men who Gorya had witnessed dicing some dead bodies at their northern lakeside cabin. For the next couple of hours though, she would have to stay put and act as if she actually belonged working at a library help desk.


	3. Everything You've Done Wrong

Veronica left the library after her shift, eager to get down to Mars Investigations to see what else she could find out about the Sorokin family. She exited Hearst at the main entrance and started walking down the sidewalk to where she had parked her car.

"Veronica!"

Veronica stopped and waited with a smile for the owner of the voice to catch up to her, "heya Wallace."

"Hey, what's up?" Wallace said with a smile.

Veronica looked at him and began walking again, "it's off to work I go."

"Yeah, Piz told me you were working a case with your dad tonight?"

Veronica waited for him to finish before realizing that was his version of a question, "uh yeah."

"It's just, he was looking forward to this concert tonight and wanted you to go with him. He's all mopey."

"Why? And why are you talking to me about it instead of him?"

Wallace shrugged, "he feels like you're not telling him the whole truth and he doesn't want to bother you. But you should go with him. Your dad would understand, Veronica. There has to be another reason."

Veronica didn't reply.

"So what's the reason, Veronica?"

She remained silent, not wanting to lie to her best friend. You can't lie to someone if you don't say a word, right?

"Veronica, if something is up-" he began in a warning tone.

"I have to go Wallace," she interrupted. "I'll talk to you later." She then got into her car, leaving a fuming friend alone.

Veronica hated when people would pry into her personal life. It was none of their business. She hated it more that she was worried about telling Wallace anything Piz-related. It was as if she couldn't trust him anymore and hated it. Again, she wasn't about the girl talk, especially with Wallace, but it would be nice to be able to say _something_.

Frustrated with the strain on her and Wallace's relationship, and the strain on her and Piz's relationship, Veronica weaved through rush hour traffic as well as she could. Stress was not a thing that Veronica enjoyed, nor was it something that she handled well.

Before going to the office, Veronica had a plan to stop at the Police Station and verbally abuse some of the deputies along with a certain Sheriff.

She parked and walked in. Veronica hadn't been there for almost a month, which seemed weird after she was there almost constantly when her dad was Sheriff again. She probably would have been around more if she had more cases. But that was something that could not be helped. Since Vinnie had taken over, Veronica didn't really want to spend much time at the station anyway.

The office still looked like it always had inside, which oddly surprised Veronica. Maybe she expected it to be a mess or surrounded by lakes of fire and creepy men with horns. Or maybe she expected Vinnie's mom to be at the front desk instead of one of the deputies.

"How can I help you?" asked the deputy at the desk – a new guy.

"Hi, I'm Veronica," she replied, smiling sweetly. "Is Deputy D'Amato in?"

"Uh yeah, but-"

"Veronica?"

Veronica whirled around to face Leo who was grinning his broad grin, "hey Deputy," she replied with a smile.

"What brings you to my side of town?"

"I need to talk to you. In private. If you're not busy."

Leo shrugged, "I'm a deputy. Of course I'm not busy."

Veronica wasn't sure if that was a sarcastic remark or not. He hid it well if it was sarcastic. She led him down the office hallway where few people ever went. She turned and faced his smiling face and began speaking abruptly, "I need to- Did-" she wasn't sure how to ask him if he had somehow let the video slip to fellow deputies or his Sheriff, without insulting him.

"What is it Veronica?"

She smiled, "uh, I am searching for a way to ask you if you... let someone other than yourself see the video?"

"Veronica," Leo began looking genuinely hurt and therefore causing Veronica an immense pang of guilt. "You know I could never do that. I would never-"

"I know. Leo. I know, it's just... my dad saw it."

"Oh," Leo said. "Right."

"Right? Do you know something about this?"

Leo shook his head, "I don't know how your dad saw it. But he was here earlier."

"He was _here_?" Veronica repeated, worried about what he might have done.

"Yeah, uh, he was angry and just walked into Sheriff Van Lowe's office. He started yelling at him and, uh, it was interesting."

"What-"

"The Sheriff closed the door and about, uh, fifteen minutes later, your dad left. Do you think it was about the video?"

Veronica nodded and whispered, "it was Vinnie who sent it to my dad. You don't know if any of the deputies showed him or-"

Leo shook his head, "I have no idea Veronica."

"Okay," Veronica replied, nodding. "I have to go. I need to find my dad. Before he finds out who planted the camera."

"You know who it is?"

"Yeah. And it is not any sort of person that he can mess with. Thank you Leo," Veronica said before walking for the door.

"I'll see you around."

Veronica drove to Mars Investigations as quickly as traffic would allow, hoping that Keith was there. Logan was Exhibit A of what the Sorokins could do when someone made them angry. She knew that her dad would not simply stop with the knowledge that Gorya placed the camera there. And there would be nasty consequences.

She parked in front of Mars Investigations and ran inside, "dad?" Veronica could hear the water running in the small kitchen where she then found her dad. "Dad."

"Hey sweetie."

She sat behind the reception desk, "so what did you do this afternoon?"

"Just went over some cases, bail jumpers-"

"I know you went to see Vinnie today." Keith began to speak, but Veronica wouldn't allow it, "I want you to leave this alone. I've already dealt with it, okay?"

"I can't do that Veronica. Do you know who is responsible?"

Veronica nodded, "I do."

He waited for her to tell him who, but spoke again when he realized that she wasn't going to. "Tell me who, Veronica."

"And _I_ can't do that. I will tell you that the person who did do this is dangerous and will not stand by while you sniff around. I just want you to stay around until you're liver spotted and wrinkly, so please don't go trying to change that, okay?"

Keith looked into his daughter's pleading eyes in silence before giving a single nod. He then walked into his office and shut the door leaving Veronica to wonder if that meant he would stay out of it or if it was just his way of getting out of the conversation. Either way, she would just have to continue her own search on the Sorokin family. She knew that what she had told her dad about the Sorokin family idly standing by while one sniffed around was the complete truth, but she couldn't manage to be the one standing idly by either. That was probably a trait that she had inherited from her dear father.

Veronica opened up her laptop to continue her Sorokin family search. Why not start with a Google search? Lev Sorokin. He was found to be in many news articles. Most frequently, he was alleged to be behind a great number of robberies, but it could never be proven in any of the cases; many reporters had also assumed that Lev Sorokin was behind missing person cases, but none of the sources were what you could call reliable. Veronica knew, however, that Lev was probably behind a great deal of unsolved crimes, or the man behind the mask of the solved ones. But what role did Alek Sorokin play? Through every article that Veronica searched, there was never any mention of an Alek. The search on him turned up nothing. She tried Alek Sorokin, Aleksandr, and every variation, but there was nothing that pertained to the people she was investigating. Veronica would just have to continue to focus on Lev. She felt as though she was back to square one.

Even the following search on the PI Database of both Alek and Lev came up empty. There were absolutely no records on either. But according to Gorya's confession tape, they had both taken part in the murders of multiple men. They were really careful if they could get away with murder, and that was a scary thing. Veronica wondered if the Sorokin's cabin would give her anything more.

"Hey."

Veronica was startled out of her thoughts by her smiling boyfriend. "Uh, hey," she replied with a smile. "Wha-"

"Your dad in?" He asked, pointing to the office door and knocking once he reached it.

"Yeah, come in," Keith called from inside the room.

Piz listened and entered the room, closing the door behind him.

Veronica was confused to say the least and not only because Piz's radio show would be starting in a half hour, but because of his persona. He was smiling, but seemed to be focused on some sort of task and almost angry. Almost.

It was a very short meeting between Piz and her father. Piz came out moments later, closing the door again, stopped, looked at Veronica and said, "can I talk to you alone?"

Veronica looked around to point out that no one was around, "uh, sure."

Piz nodded and sat on the couch, waiting for Veronica to follow, which she did.

"So I talked to your dad-"

"As I witnessed."

"Yeah, well, I asked him to let you off tonight. So we could have a Monday date night, you know?"

Veronica looked away from Piz, ashamed, knowing that she was caught in her lie. "Piz-"

"Can you tell me the truth? Please."

Veronica nodded slowly, trying to figure out a way to tell him the truth without making him angry, or as angry as Piz could ever get. "I'm on a case for... a friend."

"A friend?" Piz questioned incredulously. Veronica nodded. "Why would you lie Veronica? What friend?"

Veronica sighed, "Logan."

Piz raised his eyebrows, "oh."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I just didn't want you to get angry or upset. I... would have put it off, but it's important and- I'm sorry," Veronica said in one breath.

Piz nodded, "my show's starting soon. I'll call you later." He didn't wait for a reply before leaving the office.

Veronica definitely did not feel proud of herself for obviously hurting Piz and felt like garbage to boot. But she couldn't fight her need to continue working on the case. She would talk to Piz later and beg for his forgiveness. Maybe if he didn't want to forgive her for lying to him, she wouldn't force it on him. Maybe he couldn't be with someone who would lie to him about something so tiny. _Maybe_. Veronica felt like a world class coward.

_Later..._

Piz finished his radio show segment at six on Monday evening and walked back to his dorm room. His encounter with his girlfriend earlier that afternoon had left him feeling angry, hurt, and wanting to hit something, but his time in the studio had cooled him down. He would call Veronica and they would talk. But he just didn't know what to say. Piz was never a fan of Logan and the regard he did have for Veronica's ex had really plummeted when Piz had come into contact with Logan's fists. He apologized, yes, but that was after he had beat up some guy on Veronica's behalf. Piz saw the smile that Veronica had given Logan. It was more than a smile. There was a connection at that moment in the food court. He knew they had history and history always had a way of repeating itself, right? That's what they say. Piz constantly worried that the richer and handsomely muscular guy would steal Veronica's heart away again. He worried more that if this happened, Logan would take her heart and break it again. Piz didn't want to let that happen; he wanted to keep Veronica as long as he could and in a place where she could keep her heart out of harm's way.

Piz decided then to take a detour.

Within twenty minutes, Piz had made his way down to Neptune Grand and in front of Logan's door. He knocked, apprehensive. The door was opened by Dick.

"Yeah?" Dick said.

"I-is Logan in?"

"Hey Logan!" Dick called behind him, "Veronica's man is here to settle the score."

"N-no," Piz stuttered, "I just-"

Logan then opened the door wider to reveal himself, "Piz."

"Hi, uh, hey Logan, um, I need to talk to you."

Logan, confused, moved out of the way to let Piz in.

Dick, Logan, and Piz sat on the couch and chair in the suite's living room in an awkward momentary silence that was soon relieved by Dick, "what are you doing here dude?" he asked in his ordinary rude tone.

"Actually... I want to talk to Logan alone," Piz replied.

"Ha, if shit's going down, I gotta be here. I got Logan's back!"

"You _got_ my back?" Logan questioned, mocking his friend's fantastic grammar skills and receiving a nod from the blonde.

"Shit," Piz said, accompanied by air quotes, "is _not_ going to go down," Piz said to Dick, then turned his attention to Logan. "I just want to talk." It wasn't a very private matter, and Piz would be willing to share with an entire room of college-goers... provided they were weak and didn't have alcohol in their system. He didn't know Dick very well, but he didn't seem like a very stable individual and that was just on the outside looking in.

"Dick," Logan said before his friend could say anything more. Dick grunted, "fine," before sauntering off into his room. When the two were alone Logan awkwardly tried to start the conversation, but was cut off by an anxious Piz.

"I-I know that you and Veronica are doing the friends thing, and that's fine. But you know that- I think that your friendship should remain inside Hearst's walls."

"Is that right?" Logan said with a smile.

"You and I both know that there's this... thing between you and Veronica, what with your history together, and I don't want you-"

Logan found this amusing, "are you threatened?"

Piz didn't reply.

"Look man, I'm not going to do anything. We barely even talk unless our paths cross or she's in a particularly pesty mood."

Piz nodded, "yeah okay. Um-"

"Something else?"

"Could you take her off your case?"

Logan looked at him, confused, "my case?"

"Yeah, the case she's working on for you. Can you tell her you don't need her on it anymore?"

Logan didn't know what to say. He did know that Veronica had a mind of her own and telling her not to do something was useless if her mind was already set on something, but a part of him had thought that she would listen. She had told him once that Gorya Sorokin was connected, so she had to know the danger of getting too close. Logan was beyond angry. He nodded, "yeah. I'll tell her," he managed to get out amongst his frustration with Veronica.

"Good," Piz said, and stood. "I-I guess I'll-" he pointed towards the door and left quickly.

_Meanwhile..._

Veronica had spent the time since her encounter with Piz trying to find something, _anything_, that would lead her to the Sorokin cabin. There were no properties under a Lev Sorokin or Alek Sorokin. There were a surprising number of people with the last name Sorokin who owned cabins in Northern mountains. She couldn't know for sure which cabin was the one she was looking for, and there was no way of knowing whether the cabin that Gorya had spoken about on the video was even under the Sorokin name. She had become very frustrated and needed a break.

There was an absurd lack of food in the Mars Investigations fridge and cupboards, and an intense supply of coffee. Veronica had to settle on some crackers with butter – very dainty – and a second cup of coffee. She was stirring sugar into her coffee when she heard the office door slam, causing her to jump. Her dad had left earlier on another case (which Veronica had snooped to make its legitimacy certain) and she was alone.

"Veronica!"

The anger-filled voice gave Veronica relief if only because she knew the owner of it would never physically hurt her. She peaked out of the tiny kitchen to see a red-faced Logan. "Logan?"

"Veronica," he repeated, exasperated, "what do you think you're doing?"

Veronica knew what he meant, but decided that 'stupid' was the best direction to go, "I'm on my coffee break," she said, holding up the plate of butter-covered crackers and her Superman coffee cup.

"I heard you were on a case for me. Funny thing is, I don't remember asking you to do anything for me. Care to explain?"

Veronica walked to her desk and placed her provisions down before turning around. "Logan, I-"

"Veronica, I told you not to get involved! Why can't you just listen once?"

"I... Logan, I'm sorry, but-"

"But nothing Veronica! I know you, and I know the kind of luck you have. If you continue with this, you're going to get hurt. I told you to keep away from this because I don't want that to happen, okay?"

"Well just tell me what happened then. Or go to the police and-"

"You're seriously telling me to go to the police? You of all people should know that turning these guys in is the worst thing I could do. I don't know their names anyway."

"So, what? You're just going to take a monthly beating and hope that they don't decide to kill you?"

"By my understanding, it's a weekly beating." Veronica rolled her eyes angrily. "Which is causing me to cut back a great deal on Mario Kart online. I tried to get them to make it Thursdays but that didn't work for them, so-"

"Logan, this is not a joke."

"Wow Veronica, thanks for clearing that up for me. I couldn't tell by the ego-bursting bruises on my face. I can see clearly now. Metaphorically. This eye," Logan said gesturing to his left eye, "is still a little swollen, so my vision is still blurred."

Veronica shook her head. She definitely did not want to be reminded that the man that she loved was in any sort of pain, although it could be clearly seen on his face and arms, as well as, probably, everywhere else on his person. But her worry for him was lost amidst her fury at his joking in the situation that they found themselves in, "Logan, you do realize that this show you're putting on is doing nothing to keep me from continuing the investigation. I'm not going to stop..."

"Veronica!" Logan exclaimed incredulously while Veronica continued to speak.

"...looking for who it was that did this to you. Weekly beatings? You really think that _that_ would throw me off? If that's your idea of-"

"Veronica. Stop."

Veronica shook her head, too angry to speak any longer without resorting to childish accusations and name calling. She took the untouched crackers and coffee back to the kitchen and covered them before putting them in the fridge. It would save her time later when she needed a snack again.

"Veronica, listen," Logan said when she left the kitchen again. She stopped and faced him, waiting for him to continue. "I know that you understand the danger that you are in, especially if they catch on to whatever tricks you throw at them. Look what they did to me, if they get their hands on you – which they probably will – then that will be the last case that you ever get to the bottom of and-"

"I have to go. I need to study," Veronica said, not wanting to hear anymore and grabbed her bag and laptop.

"Is it in your day planner to be irritating? Do you get a kick out of torturing me?"

Veronica gave him a perplexed eyebrow raise, "torturing you?"

"Ronnie, you have to know what this- this 'detective' work does to me. The danger you're always in? And you never want anyone's help. You have no protection-"

"I have Backup and Tommy."

"But- who's Tommy?"

"Uh, Tommy Taser. You've met him before, remember? Ah," she sighed, "we've been through a lot, me and Tommy," Veronica answered in mock nostalgia.

Logan shook his head in annoyance, "a dog and a taser cannot overpower multiple muscular men, and neither can protect you from guns. If something were to happen to you- if you were to _die_, I don't think I could... survive. And neither could your dad. Or Wallace or Piz, Mac. We'd all be destroyed. But you don't seem to care about that. It's all about you, right Veronica? Screw the people who love you."

"Logan, that's not fair."

"Life's not fair. It is short though, and you should be looking for ways to make it last as long as possible, not sabotaging your chances to grow old."

"Says Logan Echolls, the man whose fists are constantly stuck on 'punch'."

"Veronica, you're really starting to piss me off. Just leave it alone!"

She suspired heavily, "I'm missing out on quality study time. I have to go," and she left, waiting for Logan to follow so that she could lock the office up.

When they were outside and Veronica was about to leave, Logan grabbed her arm. "Please Veronica," he pleaded when she faced him.

However she wasn't looking at Logan, but past him, brows furrowed and eyes squinted against the setting sun.

"What is it?" Logan asked, turning to look where Veronica was staring.

She shook her head, "nothing. Look, Logan. I'm not going to say that I promise to stop digging for information because I know me and _you_ know me, and _we_ both know that I would be lying. So can you just drop it? Please."

Logan clearly did not want to let Veronica find trouble, but knew that what she said was the whole truth, as he knew from personal experience. She would do it anyway. He sighed, "fine. But... if you get into trouble, or you're doing something dangerous, _please_ call me and I will come help you, okay? Can you at least promise me that? Honestly?"

Veronica nodded, "I can do that. I think."

"Veronica," Logan replied, exasperated.

Veronica closed her eyes, "I promise. If I get into trouble or plan on doing something dangerous, I will call you."

Logan smiled kindly, relieved and hopeful that she would keep her promise. "Thank you."

Veronica nodded, "I really need to go, though," she said and left Logan standing alone.

She sat in her car feeling very uneasy. In some ways, she wished that the argument they had would have gone on forever, although the other part of her wanted to get away so that she could find this cabin and bring down the individuals behind Logan's beatings. _His weekly beatings._ If these guys went to Logan's weekly, Veronica could make this a lot easier come Friday. She then formulated a new plan. On Friday she would leave her last Criminology class early and go for an afternoon stake-out inside the Neptune Grand, and wait for shady characters to go to Logan's floor... Or she could leave a camera on his door. That would make things a lot easier. Veronica would find out who the people hurting Logan were, and she would stay out of danger so as to not have to call up Logan as she promised – which was a promise that she did intend to keep this time.

Back at home, Veronica began studying. It wasn't just an excuse. Finals were the following two weeks and Veronica was not going to get any mark lower than A on any of her exams. And that was a lot to focus on between five classes. Her new plan for study was to focus on one class every night for a few hours before sleep, and the plan would start at that moment.

Veronica woke up confused. Her room was not the same as it was when she went to sleep the previous night. Her bed was against the wall, but here, wherever 'here' was, the bed was centred against a broader wall, and it was bigger. She sat up, realizing then that she was naked. Looking around the room, she realized that it was a Neptune Grand room. Logan's room. Veronica wrapped the bed's sheet around her body and left the bed.

"Logan?" Veronica called, still very confused as to how she got there. She noticed that the bathroom door was closed. She crept to the bathroom slowly, "Logan," she knocked. "Are you in here?"

When there was no answer, she turned the doorknob. Opening the door, she saw a horror. The floor was red with what Veronica assumed was blood. The walls were splattered with blood droplets. But Logan wasn't in there. Close to tears, Veronica turned to leave the washroom, but halted when she saw a blood trail leading from the bathroom. She then saw a new drop of blood hit the floor and found that it had fallen from her hands, which were covered up to the elbow in blood. Suddenly there was a sad squawking from outside the bedroom. "Baby?" she questioned to herself, shaky and perplexed.

Veronica opened the double doors to the bedroom where the trail of blood stopped, and exited. Instantly, she was no longer in the suite of the Neptune Grand, but at the airport, still covered in blood and wrapped in the bed sheet. People passed by her without glancing a second time. Because a naked and bloodied girl was not out of the ordinary at all.

"Veronica!" shouted a very familiar and missed voice to which Veronica turned. She saw the source of the voice but was dumbfounded. The man who called her had shoulder-length blonde hair with a great amount of facial hair. This wasn't anyone she knew. "Veronica," he repeated, motioning for her to go closer. She shook her head, not wanting to go to him. But at the next moment, she was in front of him.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Veronica asked, worried.

The man laughed, "Veronica, it's me!"

Veronica looked into the man's blue eyes and then smiled, "Duncan!" she exclaimed in a whisper and hugged the man.

"It's Edward actually," Duncan said with a laugh and a wink. "Edward Wilkenson."

Veronica nodded, "where's Lilly? It is Lilly?"

"Lilly is still Lilly," he said with a smile that was immediately transformed into a look of horror. "Veronica, what did you do?" he accused.

"Nothing! What are you-"

"You're covered in his blood!"

Suddenly Veronica found herself back in Logan's Neptune Grand suite still facing the changed Duncan.

"It wasn't me! You have to know that."

"What are you going to do Veronica? This is _your_ fault."

Veronica shook her head, "what? I didn't do anything."

"No?" Duncan walked to the bathroom door and opened it, revealing, once again, the bloody bathroom. "Look Veronica."

She walked slowly and peeked in, "oh my God!" Veronica exclaimed, bringing her hands up to cover her mouth.

The bathroom was the same as it had been when she had seen it earlier. The floors were covered in blood and the walls spattered. But this time the source of the blood could be seen. The bathtub was overflowing with a blood and water mixture due to the pale, lifeless body of Logan that was almost completely submerged in the liquid, his dead eyes seeming to stare straight into Veronica's.


End file.
